Making Amends
by Little crazy one
Summary: Set in an alternate universe after the Gift, where Buffy doesn't die and the portal isn't opened.
1. An Alternate Ending

**Chapter 1 **

**An alternate ending**

Ok so this is my first fic, but I would love to hear reviews from y'all, and don't be afraid to criticize.

This is set in an AU, after the Gift, where Buffy doesn't die and the portal isn't opened. So voila, and enjoy!

* * *

Spike was running fast up the tower, right to the top, where Dawn was standing, tied there, waiting to be bled. He had made a promise to get there in time. To a lady. He noticed another figure up there, standing in front of the Key, but he couldn't figure out whom. The Slayer was keeping Glory occupied, so who could it be, Spike asked himself, as he scaled the tower. A million thoughts were rushing through his head; just get there before she gets cut, just bloody well get there in time. He reached the top of the scaffolding, with a breathtaking view in front of him. It encompassed half the city, where the rebuilt school, most of the 12 cemeteries that reside in Sunnydale, and the University of Sunnydale could be seen. But he hadn't any time to take it all in. There was Dawn, but blocking his view of her was a familiar body, and he couldn't believe it. 

'Spike!' Yelled Dawn, with desperation in her voice, ruining Spike's stealthy advancement toward the demon he thought dead.

'Doesn't a fella stay dead when you kill him?' Spike said, as he swaggered like a pirate toward Doc.

'Look who's talking.' Doc remarked, with agitation, after all, he had to bleed Dawn in time for Her Most Splendiferous to prevail.

'Come on Doc, let's you and me have a go.' _That's it Spike, keep him distracted. Just keep him away from Dawn for just long enough…_

'I do…have a prior appointment' Doc replied to the challenge, with annoyance now occupying his tone, as he glanced toward Dawn.

'This won't take long.' Noted Spike.

'No, I don't imagine it will.' Doc replied, as he lunged toward Spike with his knife, and he flew past the vampire like a bat, and re-emerged behind him with the knife in Spike's back, who was baffled. Spike turned around, and he was the sole thing separating the seemingly immortal demon from his goal.

'You don't come near the girl, Doc' Spike warned.

'I don't sense a soul on you. Why does it even matter to you?' Doc inquired, intrigued.

'I made a promise to a lady.' Spike replied proudly.

Doc unexpectedly shot his tongue out in the direction of Spike's chip, which the vampire skillfully dodged, but was tripped up by Doc's swinging leg. He was grabbed by the collar and hung precariously over the edge of the platform.

'Then I'll send the lady your regrets!' Doc proclaimed gleefully, with a wide grin across his face. Victory was in grasp.

Fear formed in Spike's eyes as he looked desperately toward Dawn, believing this to be the last glance he would get of her. One word formed in his mind: Failure.

He could only manage to breathe 'No' as Doc flung him off the platform, and then advanced toward Dawn, who was also yelling in despair.

* * *

Doc stood in front of Dawn, only the hole in the platform separating him from his goal. He brought back his knife, ready to cut Dawn, until there was a vice-like grip on his wrist that would've taken off any human's hand. The Slayer spun him around, and unleashed a right hook that made contact with his jaw, stunning him and causing him to drop his knife. Buffy wasn't in the mood for mercy, so she launched her boot which collided with the other side of Doc's face, completely disorientating him. She grabbed him by his jacket and flung him into the depths of the construction site, and to what she believed a certain death. She wasn't interested in the result however, and picked up the knife, and approached Dawn, and cut the rope that was tying down her sister.

'Dawn! Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.' Buffy said, as she started to cry into Dawn's shoulder.

'It's okay, Buffy, I'm alright. You saved me.' Dawn replied gratefully, somewhat breathless.

'Oh Dawn, I promise I'll never let you go again.' Buffy promised as she looked up at the sun rising on the horizon. 'Look, the sun is rising. Everything's going to be okay. We live to see another day.'

'Where are the others? Are they okay?' Dawn asked.

'They're fine, they're at the bottom. We're all safe now. It's okay.'

* * *

The two remaining Summers girls descended the tower together, and surveyed the scene at the bottom. Several of Glory's minions were lying on the ground, motionless, and most of her lunatics were dazed and confused, more so than usual. Willow and Tara emerged from the rubble, arm in arm, as they were both clearly injured from the reverse brain-suck. Xander appeared from some fallen concrete that had come from the tower, carrying Anya in his arms, who was unable to walk. Spike was lying in the shade, battered and bruised, easily coming out the battle worst of all the Scoobies. Giles emerged from above, with blood on his hands.

Buffy noticed instantly. 'Giles! There's blood on your hands…are you hurt?' she inquired.

'No. One of Glory's minions decided to attack me, but I fended him off.'

The Slayer turned around to the witches. 'Will? Did it work? Is Tara cured?' Buffy asked, turning toward her best friend, although she already knew the answer once she looked at the couple.

'Yeah, it did. My baby's back.' The powerful witch smiled, turning toward her lover, who smiled equally back.

'What's happened? Like for the past couple of days? My memory is kinda hazy…' Tara asked, looking around, confused, lost, but comforted by Willow.

'There's plenty of time to explain later, but right now, I think we need to get to a hospital.' Buffy suggested to her fellow injured Scoobies.

'I second that motion; Anya took a lot of damage. I think she's lost a lot of blood.' Xander said, looking down at his secret fiancé in concern.

Dawn looked toward the dark corner where the vampire was hiding. 'Spike? Are you all right? It looks like you took quite a fall. You did well up there though!' said Dawn, speaking for the first time since she descended from the platform.

'I'll be right, just gotta get out of the sun.' Spike replied from his refuge, with obvious pain in his voice.

'Wait. Just before we go, where is Glory? Like is she…dead?' Xander asked openly, wondering if it was a pointless question.

'Yeah, where is that hellbitch? I sure could go for some Glory beating right now.' Spike said, voicing his opinion.

'I don't think that she or Ben will be bothering us again. But we really need to get to a hospital, you guys are badly hurt.' Said Buffy. She looked sideways to Giles, who looked uncomfortable at the Slayers words, as if she knew something.

'What about you?' asked a concerned Xander.

'I'm fine. Glory really didn't live up to her reputation tonight.' Buffy replied.

'Well, what are we waitin' for? I could sure go for some bandages right about now.' Said Spike, looking away from Buffy.


	2. Revelations

**Chapter 2**

**Revelations**

Thanks heaps for the reviews, keep em coming. Enjoy this next installment…

* * *

Buffy was sitting alone in the waiting room of the hospital, looking back on the blur that had been the last week. There was Spike's sex bot, then Tara's brain suck, the siege in the desert then things got complicated. So much had happened, and it all happened so fast, she was looking forward to some well-earned rest. A familiar British voice interrupted her train of thought. 

'Well, I checked out the construction site, and most of the lame leprechaun minions have cleared out.' Spike said, as he sat opposite Buffy in the otherwise deserted room.

'Yeah, I guess they would. It's not like they've got a reason to stay.' Buffy replied, yawning and checking the time on her watch. She looked across to the beaten vampire. 'Are you sure you're all right? You took quite a tumble. You still look like a walking punching bag.' Said Buffy, obviously concerned.

'I'm fine, and plus, I ain't one for stayin' put. Where's everyone else? Those that didn't get bashed to a bloody pulp.' Said Spike, wincing with pain.

'Dawn is getting some bandages for her arms; her wrists are kinda shot from the platform, and she said that Glory tossed her around a bit. I told Giles to head on home; he still hasn't recovered from that hit he took from that javelin, and his hands seemed hurt. Willow and Tara are being seen to, they both got broken bones from the reverse brain-suck, and they need some time alone, I think. Xander's with Anya, she got hit the worst of us. She's probably gonna have to stay a few nights here.' Buffy said, staring at the floor.

'And what are you still doing here Slayer? It's not like you've got a lot of shut-eye lately, what with everything that's been going on. You had that vague out, but I'd hardly classify that as sleep.' The vampire said, pulling out a packet of blood that he had nicked from the blood bank downstairs.

'I just want to wait and see how everyone is.' Said Buffy. She glanced at the bag and frowned slightly at the "Sunnydale Hospital" logo emblazoned across it. Then her tone grew a little more serious. 'Listen Spike, I just wanted to thank you for what you did for Dawn, holding off that demon until I got there, I really appreciate it. You did well, and if you weren't there, I wouldn't have got there in time. Thank you. You helped save the world. That makes you one of us now.' Buffy said gratefully.

'I didn't do much; I mean he could only do it the ritual at one time, right? I just kept him occupied, nothing special. He still kicked my ass. But thanks anyway. Nice to know I'm in the good books in the Scooby loop.' Spike replied, hissing the last two words patronizingly as he sucked the last of the blood from the sachet.

A deathly silence followed, and Spike tried to break it with casual talk. 'So what now? Just cool our heels till the replacement Big Bad comes along?'

'Probably. Just keep an eye on Ben, make sure Glory doesn't give us any more trouble. I don't think she will though.' Buffy replied, the words mumbled as she ran her hand through her hair, she hadn't even thought about her next enemy.

'Ben? I thought you said he won't be giving us so far as a wink and a nod. Didn't look like a threat when I saw him a few hours ago.'

'Well when I was finished with Glory, she looked a little bit worse for wear. She changed back to Ben, and I told… them…' Buffy looked slightly confused for a moment, 'not to come near us again, so I think they'll disappear out of here pretty quickly. Plus, with her shot at returning home gone, she'll probably just fade away.' The Slayer said very casually.

'You're right about her not coming near us again; she won't be goin' near anyone again. But I honestly didn't think you could do it, didn't think you had it in you to kill him. I figured you for the softy "I don't kill innocent humans" type.' Spike said, taking a cigarette out, ignoring the 'no smoking' sign.

'Do what? Kill who?' Buffy looked up sharply, obviously wildly confused.

'Ben. You killed him, right? He looked pretty damn dead when I saw him at the construction site.' Spike said, but noticed a blank expression on Buffy's face. 'You did kill him, didn't you?' Spike shifted in his seat, sensing a revelation he didn't expect.

'No, of course I didn't. I was beating Glory with the hammer, and Ben came back. I told him to never come near us again, and that she had missed her shot. I let him live. But who could do something like that…kill an innocent…' Buffy trailed off, already running off a mental list of suspects.

'Well the only person I can think of is'

Buffy cut him off before he could give the name, thinking exactly what he was. 'Oh god…the blood on his hands…' She immediately got up and left, not even hearing Spike's pleas to wait.

* * *

A weary Xander emerged from Anya's ward to find only Spike there, waiting for him. 'Where's Buffy?' Xander asked.

'Doing some detective work, turns out that someone had the guts to actually do the dirty deed and kill off Ben.' Replied Spike, getting up from the chair.

'Who is also Glory.'

'Yes. Who is also Glory.' Spike answered Xander's question in an exasperated tone. 'Where's everyone else?'

'I checked on everyone, and apparently they have to stay here for the night. Hospital policy. Willow and Tara will be right to go in a couple of hours though. Had a hell of a time explaining about Tara now that she's not crazy. Now we need to get to Buffy, before she does anything rash.'

'Bit late for that, she left about 3 hours ago. Tried to stop her, but she seemed determined.' Spike said.

'Well, thing is, Ben's not as innocent as everyone thinks. Dawn told me that he had the chance to get Dawn away from Glory and her little pals, she changed his mind half way through. He gave up Dawn to Glory.' Xander explained.

'So now Buffy is gonna give ol' Giles hell cus she thinks he's an innocent'

'Giles? But… how?'

'All clues point to him.'

'We've gotta find Buffy.' Said Xander, running out of the hospital with Spike.

* * *

Buffy slammed open the door to Giles' apartment, with that resolved look on her face. She meant business, and Giles knew it.

'Ah Buffy. I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you about some' Giles started, coming down from the stairs, but the Slayer cut him off.

'Sure. We can talk. What about killing innocent people? That sure seems like a relevant topic.' Buffy replied with a determined, angry voice. Giles recognized the tone, it was her I'm-angry-with-someone-I-care-about-but-it's-upsetting-me voice He had experienced it a number of times.

'Buffy…I…' Giles started, but was cut short again.

'I'm not done yet. So. That's your solution to everything? Just kill somebody? Kill an innocent human? Is that what you thought? "Hmm I can't kill Dawn, so who's the next best bet?" You make me sick.' Buffy yelled in a tantrum, looking straight into her watcher's eyes.

'Buffy, it was the only way. Ben had to die. If I hadn't done it, Glory would have returned, and would have killed us all. It had to be done. But there's some' Giles replied, trying to reason with Buffy.

'She wouldn't have come near us again. Not after the beating I gave her.'

'You were lucky, that's all. She would have returned and made you pay. Listen, I've found some' Buffy cut him off again.

'She missed her chance. Besides, what does it matter? He didn't deserve to die. You said it yourself last night. You said a slayer isn't a killer. But you were obviously wrong about that too.' Buffy said, just as Spike and Xander burst into the room. A knife could have cut the tension in there.

'Buffy, killing Ben was the only way to kill Glory. Sometimes you have to make these decisions. But can we please continue this debate later? We have more pressing issues at hand. Like the world ending.'

'Again!' said Spike.

'It turns out that the book that Spike and Xander stole from that demon was a prophecy book. When it said "the blood will flow, the gates will close when it flows no more", it meant that that was _supposed_ to happen.' Giles explained to a stunned crowd.

'So Dawn was meant to die…But she didn't. And Glory is dead' Xander said, but Giles proceeded to explain.

'Ben's body was just a host for Glory, a prison. So now Glory is transferring to another body, and another opportunity for her to destroy the world is coming up. Turns out that it wasn't just that one opportunity she had to return home.'

Xander asked the obvious. 'So how do we stop her?'

'The only way to stop Glory is to kill Dawn.' Giles replied. 'I'm sorry Buffy, but it's the only way. The prophecy says that Glory will bleed Dawn, and Dawn will die. It doesn't go into specifics.' Giles replied coldly.

'I don't believe it.' Said the Slayer in disbelief.

'There has to be another way.' Xander said. 'Like can't we do a spell where Glory changes her mind or something?'

'I'm afraid not. Ben's death has bought us some time, but not much.' Giles said. 'I guess the next question is where is Glory? Whose body is she in?'

'What about Doc? I mean he seemed to pretty close to Glory, could be a right-hand man.' Spike suggested. 'He was the demon that tried to kill Dawn.'

'Well, it's most likely to be a human host. When Glory was banished, she was meant to die in the body of a human. Demons are generally immortal, so the purpose is lost. But we mustn't rule out the possibility of her inhabiting a demon's body, especially if this demon was particularly close to Glory.' Giles said.

'So she could be anywhere?' Xander asked.

'Yes, she could be on the other side of the planet or still here in Sunnydale, but we must focus our efforts on keeping Dawn safe.' Said Giles, looking toward Buffy.

'Okay. This is what we're going to do. Xander and Spike, you check out Doc's place to see if he's gone back there. Giles, you go and get Dawn, Willow and Tara from the hospital, then I need you to take them to the Magic Shop, try and find a spell to locate Glory. Make sure Dawn is safe. I'll check out the construction site to see if Doc is still there. Everyone clear?' Said Buffy, ordering her troops into action.

'One question. Isn't Doc kind of…dead? I mean you did push him off the tower, and if a sword to the heart or a huge fall won't kill him, then I don't know what will.' Xander said.

'We can't rule him out.' Buffy replied. 'Besides, if Glory's minions are still alive, they'll go to the next body that Glory has. If he isn't at the tower, then I might be able to get an answer out of them.'

'Sounds like you might need some help.' A familiar voice said from the doorway. Two figures walked into the room, one smaller than the other. Everyone instantly recognized Angel, as the dim lights shone on his face.

'You have got to be kidding me.' Buffy said whose attention was drawn to the smaller figure.

'C'mon B, not happy to see your old friend?'

* * *


End file.
